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Izzie was already half-asleep on the couch in the TV room, as she watched her brother and Sam play on the X-Box, so Annabelle only faced a small protest as she ran her daughter a bath, then supervised teeth-cleaning.
‘Can I read for a bit?’ Izzie asked.
‘Of course you can.’ Annabelle bent over to tuck her in and give her a kiss. ‘I won’t be long before I come to bed.’ She brushed a stray lock of hair off Izzie’s face. ‘The boys are just about to go to bed, too.’
She’d let her children stay up longer than she would have done if they were at home because they were on holiday, but she didn’t want them to stay up until all hours, so ten pm was a reasonable compromise she thought, as she headed back upstairs.
When she returned to the living room, she wasn’t prepared for the sight of Brett on all fours with his backside in the air and Kate’s limbs entwined around his. They were playing Twister, and her heart sank because she knew what was coming next as Kate and Brett tumbled over, giggling hysterically.
‘Your turn,’ Kate said to her, getting to her feet and brushing herself down.
‘I’m off to bed,’ Helen announced.
‘Me, too. I’m too old for all these shenanigans.’ Beverley wrapped her knitting up and put it in the basket by her feet. ‘You want to be careful you don’t break something,’ she warned.
Yeah, my heart, Annabelle thought dryly, as she resisted the urge to glance at Ron. Goodness knows what he must be thinking.
Annabelle watched the two ladies leave and was just about to say that she should retire too, when Kate grabbed her arm and dragged her over to the plastic Twister mat laid out on the floor.
‘Go on,’ she urged. ‘It’s fun. Here.’ Kate shoved her wine glass at her. ‘Drink this. There’s no point in wasting it.’
There had only been a couple of sips left in the bottom when Annabelle had put Izzie to bed, but now the glass was full again.
Annabelle put it down without tasting it. She didn’t dare drink any more.
‘Come on.’ Kate was urging Ron to his feet.
Annabelle could sense his reluctance, but he got up anyway, and allowed himself to be pulled over to the mat, where he smiled uncertainly at her.
‘We could always tell them to bugger off,’ he murmured.
Maybe it was the wine, maybe it was pure devilment, or maybe she was so desperate to feel close to him that she was willing to take whatever she could get, but she found herself saying, ‘Remind me, how do you play this game?’
Ron lifted an eyebrow, the rest of his face blank. ‘You put one foot there, and one there. The referee spins the spinner, and you move whichever body part to whatever colour circle it tells you to. Are you sure you want to play?’
‘I’m sure. I’m going to beat you – I’m quite bendy.’ Oh, God, she’d definitely had too much to drink.
‘I’m sure you are,’ he said, and she couldn’t work out whether he was agreeing that she’d win the game, or whether he thought she was supple.
‘Ready?’ Kate called.
‘As ready as I’ll ever be,’ Annabelle muttered, as she got into position.
Ron did the same.
‘Annabelle, you go first,’ Kate told her, and she spun the spinner. ‘Left hand, blue,’ she announced when the spinner came to a stop.
Annabelle crouched down and did as she was instructed.
‘Ron, your go. Right foot, red.’
Ron moved his foot. He was still upright, and Annabelle felt rather strange being almost on her knees at his feet. She risked a swift glance up at him, and looked away hastily when she saw he was gazing down at her, his expression unreadable.
‘Annabelle, left foot, green,’ Kate said.
Annabelle moved her foot, feeling the stretch in her thigh.
A few moves later, she was feeling more than a stretch, because her face was centimetres from Ron’s. Her one arm was underneath his leg and the other… she actually tried not to think about what part of his anatomy her shoulder was touching because it was making her giddy.
